Holding fixture



OCt- 8, 1963 R. M. ToMLlNsoN HOLDING FIXTURE Filed July 19, 1962 United States Patent 3,106,047 HOLDING FIXTURE Ronald M. Tomlinson, indianapolis, Ind., assignor to Stamping Specialty Company, Inc., Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation of Indiana l Filed July 19, 1962, Ser. No. 210,944 3 Claims. (Cl. 51-237) This invention relates generally to iixtures, and more particularly to -a fixture of a type well suited to holding a tool, for example, during grinding operations thereon.

ln making and maintaining certain tools such as, for example, metal piercing punches, it is desirable to grind the tool to a desired diameter. In order that punches or the like may be ground with a conventional grinding wheel, such as is available in any tool room, it is necessary to have some suitable holding means whereby the punch can be rotated as it is ground. v

It is, therefore, a general object of Ithis invention to provide improved means for holding piercing punches or other tools and rotating them during grinding with conventional grinding equipment.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a holding fixture which is easily secured tothe grinding machine, easily operated, and of trouble-free construction.

In a typical embodiment of this invention, a frame is provided including a base which may readily be clamped to a table. An upright member is secured to the base and has a horizontal slot therein. Two pairs of bearings are mounted in spaced relation at one end of the slot and an adjustable slide mounted in the slot has an additional pair of bearings thereon. A piercing punch or other tool may be positioned so that it extends ythrough the slot whereupon it can be provided with six-point support for rotation in the bearings. A clamp assembly' with a handle is secured to one end of the tool opposite the end to be ground whereby the tool can be rotated as it is ground.

The full nature of the invention will 'be understood from lthe accompanying drawings and the following description and claims:

FIG. l is a perspective View illustrating a typical embodiment of the present invention with a tool mounted therein and positioned `for grinding by an abrasive wheel.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of the fixture of the present invention with a portion broken away to show the interior details.

FiG. 3 is a section taken along the line 3 3 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings, a grinding wheel 11 on the shaft 12 having an axis 13, has a surface 14 which may 4be :of the contour necessary to obtain the desired ground contour adjacent the piercing end 16 of the piercing punch 17. A table 18 having a horizontal upper surface or top 19 in a plane parallel to the axis 13 may lbe considered relatively movable horizontally with respect to the abrasive wheel 11.

The xture 21 of the present invention has a base 22 which is secured to the horizontal tab-le top -19 by means of a clamp 23. Additional clamps may be employed if desired. An upstanding guide member 24 .is secured to the base 22 and has a horizontal slot 26 therein. A slide 27 is `fitted in the slot 26 for horizontally -sliding action therein, and lateral confinement thereof is provided by the retainers 23 and 29 which are secu-red to the member 24 by means of screws or the like.

A slide positioning screw 30 is threadedly received in the end 31 of the upright 24. A knurled knob 32 is provided at the outer end of the screw 30 and the inner end of the screw is provided with a portion 33 of reduced diameter leaving a head 34 disposed in the slot 36 in the slider 27. Thus when the knob 32 is manually turned to advance the screw 30 in the upright 24, the forward end 37 of ICC the screw engages the forward edge 38 of the slot 36 to advance the slide 27 toward the front end 39 of the slot 26. In contrast, as the knob is turned to withdraw the screw 30 the rear face 41 of the head 34 engages the rear wall 42 of the slot 36 adjacent the opening 43 in the slide and moves the slide away from the end 39 of the slot 26.

On each side of the upright 24 there are two dust-proof ball bearings. The bearing 46 has its inner race 47 secured by a pin 48 to the member 24, leaving the outer race 49 free to rotate. Likewise, bearing 51 has its inner race 52 secured to the pin 53 whereby the outer race 54 is free to rotate. On the opposite side of the upright 24, identical bearings 46a and 51a are mounted to the pins 43 and 53, respectively. It will be observed from FIG. 2 that the location of the pins 48 and 53 in the upright 24 is adjacent the front end of the slot 26 whereby a projection of the outer cylindrical surfaces of the outer races of the two bearings mounted on either of the two pins 48 and S3, passes through the slot 26.

A pair of bearings 56 and 56a is mounted to the slider 27 by having the inner races thereof secured to the pirx 57 which is secured in the slider 27. A projection of the outer cylindrical surfaces of these two bearings parallel to the axis of the pin 57 extends beyond the front margin 5d of the slide 27, which margin faces the frontend 39 of the slot 26. Accordingly, as the slide 27 is advanced by turning the knob 32, the three pairs of bearings are enabled to grip the body of the tool 17 whereby it can be rotated precisely about an axis 59. Of course, the location of the axis S9 with respect to the frame of the fixture will depend upon the diameter of the body of the tool 17.

A clamp 61 includes a pair of bars 62 with V-shaped notches 63 therein embracing the outer circumferential surface'64 of the enlarged end 65 of the tool 17. The screws 66 facilitate the clamping of the bars to the tool. A handle 67 is connected to one of the bars 62 to facilitate rotation of the tool on the axis 59 as the grinder wheel 11 is operated. As is apparent in FIG. 3, the bars 62 have a slightly bowed coniiguration in a plane parallel to the axis 59 of the tool to insure clearance between the clamp and the tool support bearings.

The fixture of the present invention can be used quite conveniently on standard surface type grinders or can also be used with a variety of grinders. As has been mentioned herein, it is preferable to employ dust protected ball bearings to secure accuracy. The entire frame of the fixture may be provided with a black oxide rustproof finish, for example. By reason of the fact that even in the substantially advanced positions of the slide, the retainers 29 and 28 still substantially cover the forward end of the screw 30 and the slot 36, additional protection from grinding dust and other dirt is provided. It will readily be recognized that tools and parts besides piercing punches can also be readily nished by the employment of the present invention.

While the invention has been disclosed and described in some detail in the drawings and foregoing description, they are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, as modifications may readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art and within the broad scope of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

l. A holding fixture comprising:

a base;

an upstanding guide member on said base and having an elongate slot therein;

a slide reciprocable in said slot and having a margin facing the end of said slot;

retaining means on said guide and conning said slide to movement in a plane;

a cylindrical bearing mounted to each side of said slide, said bearings having colinear axes perpendicular to said plane and said bearings extending beyond the said margin of said slide;

two pairs of cylindrical bearings on said guide, each pair having a bearing mounted to each side of said guide, with the axes of both bearings of a pair being colinear and disposed normal to said plane,

each bearing of said pairs extending beyond the end of said slot and toward said slide, whereby a cylindrical article is supportable by said bearings for rotation therein about its cylindrical axis.

2. A fixture as set forth in claim 1, wherein said bearings are dust-protected ball bearings and wherein said {ixture further includes a screw threadedly received in said frame and connected to said slide to move said slide in said slot, the portion of said slide connected to said screw being enclosed to exclude dust.

3. A fixture for holding cylindrical articles and comprising:

a frame;

irst and second support means rotatably mounted on Xed aXCS .in said frame to support a cylindrical article at two circumferentially spaced points on the outer circumferential surface of the article;

a slot in said frame;

a slide in said slot;

third support means rotatably mounted on said slide;

and means engaging said slide and said frame for moving said slide and thereby said third support means toward said first and second support means, to support the article at a third point on the outer circumferential surface thereof, said third point being circumferentially spaced from said rst and second points, whereby the article is supported for rotation in said support means.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,107,051 Briney Feb. l, 1938 2,616,108 Luft Nov. 4, 1952 2,701,433 Kopczynski Feb. 8, 1955 2,713,802 Mittleman July 26, 1955 2,727,342 Kopczynski Dec. 20, 1955 2,741,074 Kopczynski Apr. 10, 1956 

1. A HOLDING FIXTURE COMPRISING: A BASE; AN UPSTANDING GUIDE MEMBER ON SAID BASE AND HAVING AN ELONGATE SLOT THEREIN; A SLIDE RECIPROCABLE IN SAID SLOT AND HAVING A MARGIN FACING THE END OF SAID SLOT; RETAINING MEANS ON SAID GUIDE AND CONFINING SAID SLIDE TO MOVEMENT IN A PLANE; A CYLINDRICAL BERAING MOUNTED TO EACH SIDE OF SAID SLIDE, SAID BEARING HAVING COLINEAR AXES PERPENDICULAR TO SAID PLANE AND SAID BEARING EXTENDING BEYOND THE SAID MARGIN OF SAID SLIDE; TWO PAIRS OF CYLINDRICAL BEARINGS ON SAID GUIDE, EACH PAIR HAVING A BEARING MOUNTED TO EACH SIDE OF SAID GUIDE, WITH THE AXES OF BOTH BEARINGS OF A PAIR BEING COLINEAR AND DISPOSED NORMAL TO SAID PLANE, EACH BEARING OF SAID PAIRS EXTENDING BEYOND THE END OF SAID SLOT AND TOWARD SAID SLIDE, WHEREBY A CYLINDRICAL ARTICLE IS SUPPORTABLE BY SAID BEARINGS FOR ROTATION THEREIN ABOUT ITS CYLINDRICAL AXIS. 